


Bloody Hands

by TheTurtleduckPond



Series: A Simple Song [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Assisted Suicide, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Burns, Major character death - Freeform, Murder, Suicide, Zuko (Avatar) is a Good Brother, depictions of burning flesh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:27:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28203855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTurtleduckPond/pseuds/TheTurtleduckPond
Summary: In a moment of panic during the final Agni Kai, Katara throws out an attack of ice spears. What no one expected was for Zuko to throw himself in front of Azula to defend her.
Series: A Simple Song [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066292
Comments: 18
Kudos: 119





	Bloody Hands

Most of Azula’s memories from childhood were of training. Training from sun rise to sunset. Working harder and harder to be the best she could possibly be.

She did have another type of memory that stuck out to her though.

Azula remembered singing. A lullaby being sung softly by her bed whenever she had nightmares as a child or just couldn’t seem to get to sleep. She’d always assumed it was mother, coming to sing when Azula was too tired to fight it.

Now she realized it had never been her mother. In her tired mind as a child she’d made the assumption that it had to be her, so she’d never considered anyone else. The singing had continued well past when her mother disappeared though.

Now she knew why.

Zuko was singing, his voice deeper an rougher than it had ever been as a child, but the song was the same. It held the same tone as it did when she was young too.

She carefully threaded her fingers through blood soaked hair and held him closer to her.

He’d jumped in the way to save her life, not even hesitating.

Now she just had him dying in her lap, singing the same song she’d always associated with safety and love. An unconditional love that she thought her mother had faked.

Zuko didn’t lie though. He was bad at it and never seemed to do anything for him. So he was always an open book, easily read and honest. The care he held for others was always written across his face.

Looking down at him now she could see that open care still there. She could distinctly remember rejecting those emotions when they were younger. He’d backed off, but the singing had never stopped.

Now he was bleeding to death slowly in her arms and he was still trying to soothe _her_. She glared over at the waterbender, the ice spears she’d aimed for Azula the cause of Zuko’s injuries. She hadn’t noticed the girl approaching again, this time bringing water over hands that started to glow slightly.

She sneered at her, but she let the waterbender get to healing Zuko. It was the least she could do after injuring him so badly.

The problem was that she was quick to notice that the girl looked pale and that there was still blood coming from Zuko’s mouth. The outer wounds were closing, but the ice had speared through his torso and Azula’s teeth started to grit.

He took a breath, still singing and one of his hands lifted to touch her cheek and draw her attention back to him. Azula wanted to scream at the sight of his smile, she wanted to throw a fit and cause all the problems that she physically could because he was _dying_.

After a moment though he scrambled for something at his side, then took her hand. He hadn’t stopped singing though, which was probably why she didn’t recognize the shape in her hand or the gasp that the other girl let out at first.

Azula’s hand curled around a familiar hilt, slowly looking away from Zuko’s eyes down to the knife that Zuko had gotten when they were young. She gripped it tighter, looking back down at Zuko’s eyes and she understood.

‘Don’t let me suffer.’

Azula looked down and for once she let her expression twist with grief. She leaned over him, the already half fallen topknot falling out and her hair falling like a curtain to block anyone else from seeing what she was about to do.

She pushed the sheathe off the knife, looking down at the words inscribed there, _‘Never go down without a fight.’_

But Zuko had fought long enough. She shifted to look at his eyes, the look there managing to give her enough strength in that moment to place the knife against her brother’s neck. She took a moment to take a breathe before she sliced through the skin as deeply as she could in one go and watched as more red spilled over his skin and her hand.

Azula decided in that moment that she _really, really_ hated the color red.


End file.
